All Forum Posts by: Billie Miller

How smelly is it? Like water damage smelly or nasty grease and dirt smelly? Just make sure the smelly/bumpiness isn't due to some other issue. 

Kilz primer solves a lot of weird smell issues. And if you can just texture it and repaint it that would probably be the cheapest and fastest way.

Very cool! This business is definitely about relationships. You keep getting calls because your broker and your network know that you close on deals!

Good work!

Your expenses and your taxes seem high for KC. I don't live there, but I have been looking at a lot of properties there recently and that's not what I've been seeing.

You're not looking at the principal your tenants are paying down for you either. Assuming you don't sell the property for less than you paid for it (if you're investing for B&H that shouldn't be an issue, don't sell if you're underwater) than you'll realize the principal that your tenants paid down for you too.

60 years isn't that old for a house if it has been well maintained. 

If it's about the same age as all the other houses in the neighborhood, I wouldn't worry about the age so much.

Most neighborhoods don't change overnight either. I think as long as you are keeping up with the pulse of the neighborhood, you can tell if it's still a good investment, 5,10,15 years from now. 

What's your living situation now? One of the big benefits of house hacking is living for free while you're living in your house hack. If one of your units is empty, you're missing out on either free rent or rental income. I don't see why you would go through the hassle of owner-occupied financing if you aren't going to live there.

Not to mention it would be mortgage fraud not to live there if you got owner-occupied financing.

In CO I don't think you can keep the security deposit as the last month's rent. You'll have to look up your state laws on what you can do in this situation.

I was just at a family get together over the weekend and someone was telling me they just stuccoed their house. They said they got lower homeowner's insurance rates because of it, so maybe it's worth a call to your insurance agent to see if that's possible? I think it was something to do with it being fire retardant?? I might be totally wrong about that though.

They live in Colorado though, so it might be different in AZ.

Any decent lender or real estate agent should be able to help you out in time for an offer by 9/15. If they express concerns about being able to do it that quickly, they aren't for you.

If you think the house would be good for your family I think it's worth looking into. But like @Richard Jahnle said, riding out appreciation is a risky strategy. It's tempting to think that the market is just going to go up and up and up over the short-term future. I would think of at least one exit strategy if the market doesn't do what you want. Such as selling for a lower gain than you want, or renting it out.

I would call around to other lenders and see what they can do for you. I've never had 2 lenders tell me the same thing. I would try reaching out to local lenders in PA where your quad is too.

What does your market and price point demand? If you're aiming for more luxury rentals, than maybe a gas stove would be worth it. Maybe it would be worth a look on hotpads or craigslist to see what similar rentals in your area have?